Display device



M. SPINELLO.

DISPLAY DEVICE.

- APPLICATION FILED DEC. R, 1920.

1,389,078. Pat nted Aug- 30, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

' IN VENTOR /Yaf 6W5 /'/ze//a.

/; TTOR/vEY' M. SPINELLO.

DISPLAY DEVICE.

APPLICATION mm. mac. 8, 1920.

1,3 9,07 PatentedAug. 30,1921

3SHEETS-SHEET 3.

INVENTOR Mar/raw Sp/walla.

i TTORNEY MATHEW SPINELLO, OF KANSAS CITY, MIssonRI.

DISPLAY Davies;

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 30, 1921.

Application filed DecemberB, 1920. Serial no. 429,270.

To all whom it ma e/ concern: Be it known that I, LIATHEW 'SPINE'LLO, a

citizenof the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the 'countyof J aek'son and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Display Devices;- and I do declare-the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the s'a1ne,'reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to'the letters and figures of referenee marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to a ineehanically operated dis'play device whereby a con-' stan'tly changing Sign or display may be presented to view in an attractive raan'ne'r,-'

advantage being taken of the Well known curiosity of the human race in order to attract persons to the sign;

The invention contemplates the." provision of means whereby the display will be periodically and intermittently obseu'red from View by a 'curtain, which may be raised and lowered automatically between the rota-five movements of the display device.

The -.front of the advertising 0'1- display device Will preferably simulate stage or forum so that passersby Will be attracted to it but particular fbi'fifl Of the device is not so important, the i'nvefitifo'irresiding in thepeculiar combinations of parts and,

in some respects, their details, as Willbe apparent by reference to the drawings, in

which t Figure 1 is a front View of a display device constructed in accordance ,With'iny invention, the eiii'tain being in raised '-position.

Fig. 2 ize'd mechanism, the front of the device being removed. Fig. 8 is a vertical longitudinal;sectional view through the operating mechanism; the display elements being shown in elevation;

Fig. 4; is a perspective View ofthe curtain actuator operating cam;

Fig; 5 is a plan view of the display ole men't carrier and the display element shifter, and

'Fig'; 6 is a detail erspective View of one of the displayelements and a spring stop therefor. t

In carrying out my inventien I prefer to" pi'oVitle it casing of suitable constr ction in is a perspective new of the organwhich the mechanism is contained. The front of the casing, designated 1, may be open, as indicated at 2, Fig. 1, the opening being intermittently closed during the operation of the mechanism by a drop curtain '8 on a rollerxt, carried by a shaft 5, journ'ale'd in the name or casing 1. At one end of the shaft 5 is a pinion 6, the teeth of which are adapted to mesh with the teeth of a rack bar 7 vertically mounted in guides 8 and 9 on the casing 1 and adapted to slide therein. The lower that]? the bar 7 is provided with a right angular extension 10, on which is a roller 11 to ride on the oppositely located cam tracks 'l2and 13, carried by the retatable disk l4 'so that the bar 7 will raised when the roller rides-upon the upper edge of either track and Will be allowed to gravitate when the roller moves ofithe track, the reciprocatory movement of the bar 7 being 'efl'ective'in imparting a rotative movement to" the shaft 5 whereby the roller inay Wind unwind the curtain.

The disk or table 14 is supportednpon a vertical, axially disposed shaft 15, which is mounted in step bearing 16 on the bottom l7 oi-ahe casing 1 the shaft being rotated by a motor 18, preferably an electric motor froin';tl1e drive shaft of which a pulley 19 may bedritenthrough the medium of the belt 20; "Thepulley 19 is on a horizontal shaft 21 which carries a Worm 22, meshing with- 'a Worm gear 23 on the shaft 15.

' The shaft 21 is j'ournaled in suitable bearings to maintain it in proper relative position, the particular mounting shown in Fig. 2 consisting of an inverted; U-shapedbracket 24, mounted upon the base 17. Therefore, when the motor is operated, motion will be coinmunicatedi to the shaft 15 in an obvious manner to rotate the disk or table 1 f rigid thereon.

Beneath the table or disk 14: :is adisk or plate 25 having acentral opening '26, through avhieh'the shaft 15 projects, The

plateis snpported upon a bracket 27 hav-- ing c1inte28 sec red to the floor 17 and the bracket 27; is 1n"-e'ferablyfastened' to the br-aeket 24 an-angle 29 t0 affordrig'idity late 25 carries two thereto, The disk or I spring Cams 30 a-nd '3'1 ,each of which is fastoned at one end to thedisk or plate andeach of which has a yielding free end, the freeends ojfthe extending-in opposite directions;

Said Came are provided with ps1};

tions 32 and 33, up which may ride the end 34 of a downwardly, spring-pressed rod 35, carrying a collar 36 against which one end of a coil spring 37 on rod 35 bears, theopposite end of the spring bearing against a web or partition 38 carried by the cylindrlcal member 39 supported upon the disk or table 14 and rotative therewith.

The rod 35 is adapted to be raised by the cams 30 and 31 into engaging position with certain display element actuators so as to rotate them about acommon axis and bring them successively into view through the opening 2.

The display or indicia-carrying elements are upon a disk or table 40 within the recess 41 of the cylindrical member 39, the table being supported upon a vertical, axially positioned shaft 42, one end of which is mounted in a friction bearing 44, the otherend having a point bearin 45 received within the bearing recess 46. eneath the table 40 are studs or fastening devices 47 carrying bifurcated spring arms consisting of the spring leaves 48 and 49, Fig. 6, connected by a cylindrical connection 50, engaged by the studs 47. The arms 48 and 49 are adapted to yieldingly engage the flat ends 51 of the the rotatable shafts 52, carried by the table and which support the substantially rectangular frame 53, there being four frames 53 shown, each of which is provided with a shaft 52 and a flat end 51, and each of which cooperates with a set of bifurcated spring arms 48 and 49.

Each frame is provided with grooved rails 54, 55, 56 and 57 so that cards or panels 58 may be removably received by the frame, there being two cards carried by each frame, it being understood that each frame is reversible so that the four frames are capable of progressively displaying eight different advertisements or eight different displays, there'being a reversing member shown'as an idler 59 carried by a bracket 60 on the cross bar 61, the idler being adapted to engage the inner face of each successive frame 58 as it is presented to it.

Assuming the parts to be assembled with each frame carrying two displays or cards, if the motor is operating, motion will be communicated to the pulley 19 to drive the shaft 21 which, in turn, will communicate motion to the gear 23 so as to drive the vertical shaft 15. As the vertical shaft 15 rotates, it will carry with it the disk or table 14, in which the spring-pressed bar 35 is mounted. As the bar rides over one of the cams 30 or 31, it will be raised to bring the upper end in contact with one set of spring arms 48 and 49, thereby rotating the disk or table 40 ninety degrees. By the time that the bar 35 has moved the table .40

ninety degrees to bring a card opposite the opening 2, the end 34- of the rod 35. will have moved off the cam on plate I 25 so that the spring 37 will be effective in moving the rod 35 out of contact with the spring arm or engaging element 48 or 49. The table 14, however, will continue to rotate, the cams 12 and 13 and 30 and 31 being so timed that when the bar 35 moves out of actuatingcontact with the abutting arm 48 or 49, the roller 11 will begin to move up the inclined end of one of the cams 12 or 13, imparting an upward longitudinal movement to the bar 7. This will be effective in rotating the shaft 5 through the rack portion-of the bar 7 and the pinion .6 so that the curtain will be raised.

The curtain will remain raised as long as the roller 11 rides over the upper edge of one of the cams 12 or 13. At the end of the cam 12 or 13, as the case may be, the roller will drop off, the weight of the bar 7 being sufficient to allow it togravitate and thereby reverse the rotative movement of the roller 4 to unwind the curtain or cause it to drop. Thenthe rod 35 again moves over a cam 30 or 31 to turn the table 40 ninety degrees, during the interval that the curtain closes the opening." v V Each time that the table 40 moves ninety degrees, one of the frames is reversed because as the table 40 starts to turn, a frameis engaged by the reversing roller .59, en aging theinner face thereof, as shown in liig. 5, sovthat the roller will rotate on its pivot or shaft 52 and when it has made its rotative movement of about one hundred eighty degrees, the frame will be held between the spring, arms 48 and 49, which will bear against the flat portion 51. s i

It will be apparent, therefore, that the shifting of the display frame table 40 takes place intermittently to the shifting of the curtain; that is, when the curtain is raised, the table 40, presenting a display card, is stationary, the curtain then descends while the card is still stationary; then the table 40 shifts to present a new card, at the same time reversing one of the cards through the medium of the pulley 59, then stands stationary while the' curtain is raised. This arrangement presents an attractive display device which is well adapted'to serve the purpose for which it is intended, it being understood that the mechanism for driving the parts will be obscured and that the cylindrical member 34 and table 40 may be covered with suitable indicia if desired.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

1 A display device comprising a casing, a rotatable table within the casing, a rotatable disk above the rotatable table having move ment independent thereof, and means on the rotatable table for intermittently rotating the rotatable disk. 1

2. A display device comprising a casing, a

rotatable table Within the casing, a rotatable disk above the rotatable table having movement independent thereof, means on the rotatable table for intermittently rotating the rotatable disk and display frames carried by the disk.

3. A display device comprising a casing, a rotatable table Within the casing, a rotatable disk above the rotatable table having movement independent thereof, means on the rotatable table for intermittentlyrotating the rotatable disk, and reversible display frames carried by the rotatable disk. y g

4. A display device comprising a casing, a rotatable table Within the casing, a rotatable disk above the rotatable table having movement independent thereof, means on the rotatable table for intermittently rotating the rotatable disk, reversible display frames carried by the rotatable disk, and means independent of the frames for progressively engaging the frames as they pass a given point to reverse them. v

5. A display device comprising a casing having an opening, a constantly rotating table Within the casing, an intermittently rotating, display-carrying means above the table, means controlled by the table for intermittently effecting movement of the disk, and an intermittently operating curtain controlled from the table for opening and closing the opening in the casing j '6. A display device comprising a casing having an opening, a constantly rotating table Within the casing, an intermittently movable display means above the table, means cooperating With the table for intermittently imparting movement to the dis play means, an intermittently movable curtain to cover and uncover the opening, and means controlledby the table for actuating the curtain.

7. In a display device, a constantly rotating member, an intermittently rotating member, means controlled by the constantly rotating member to intermittently actuate the intermittently movable member, an intermittently movable curtain for intermittently obscuring the intermittently movable member, and means controlled by the constantly movable member for actuating the curtain.

8. A display device comprising a constantly rotating table, a display device separate from but intermittently controlled by the movement of the table, said display device comprising a support, a plurality of rotatable frame-carrying shafts. on said support, means for imparting a rotative movement to theframes about their shafts, and means for opposing rotative movement of the shafts, said last named means comprising bifurcated stop members having spring arms for engagement with the flat faces on the shafts. I In testimony whereof I afiix my si nature.

MATHEW SPINE L0. 

